Talk About XX Baby

Due in Ireland in early summer for a brace of DJ-ing slots, Jamie xx has of late been attracting considerable attention in his own right, away from his day-job as drummer and producer with acclaimed indie outfit The xx. He has produced a series of cracking remixes for other artists, but undoubtedly his most high-profile project has been his superb Gil Scott-Heron (RIP) remix album, We’re New Here.

“I’ve always been a producer in my own right,” considers the softly spoken Jamie. “I started producing before I was in The xx but I don’t know...We’re such a close group of friends. And even though The xx aren’t releasing anything at the moment, we’re still making music, so I don’t really see my remixing and producing as separate things.”
We’re New Here turned out to be an ideal meeting of musical styles, with Scott-Heron’s brand of jazz and funk being perfectly complemented by one of the hottest urban producers around. Even so, I wonder if Jamie has been surprised by the level of acclaim afforded the record?
“I was amazed,” he acknowledges. “Even when I was making it, I didn’t think it was going to be a big deal. I thought it would just go under the radar as another remix project, but it’s had a really nice reception and I’m very happy with it.”
As it happens, Jamie recently turned in a couple of brilliant DJ sets for BBC 6 Music, with one focusing on house and electro and another skewed more towards grime and dubstep. During the former – which was a longer affair, clocking in at an hour – he discussed how his selected tracks had influenced his work on We’re New Here. He also explained during the show that he had to fully explain the concept behind the album – which features some fairly radical reworkings of the original material – to Gil Scott-Heron before proceeding with the project.
“I met him a few times at some of his gigs,” recalls Jamie. “I wrote him a letter about it as well, so there were several things. He just wants to be involved in everything with his name on it. He’s been screwed over by labels before, so we just had to make sure that everything was perfect. He’s really open to new music and stuff he hasn’t heard before, and I hope I can be like that when I’m his age.”
Jamie also explained during his 6 Music mix that one particular track on We’re New Here was built around a groove from an existing house track. Clearly, the producer enjoys deploying his record collection to imaginative effect, and seems to approach remixing in a particularly creative way.
“I started DJing before making music, so I’m really influenced by the records I’ve owned for a while,” says Jamie. “That’s just how I get a buzz. With Gil Scott-Heron, I’d grown up with his music and I’d had albums for a while, so when I was offered that opportunity I just jumped at it.”
As mentioned earlier, Jamie’s second 6 Music mix was more focused on dubstep and grime. Has he been surprised at just how all-conquering these genres have become in recent years?
“It’s been around for over a decade now,” reflects Jamie. “You can hear its influence in Britney Spears’ new track, it’s kind of crazy. I definitely didn’t expect that when I was going to hear dubstep DJs in Brixton and South London, and it was just a small room full of guys listening with their hoods up. From that to this, it’s pretty amazing.”
Perhaps the standout track on We’re New Here – and a good example of Jamie’s brilliance as a producer and remixer – is ‘My Cloud’, an extraordinarily atmospheric piece of ambient hip hop, with echoes of LA groove technicians like Gonjasufi, Ras G and Flying Lotus.
“With the compression, and the way it cuts in out, it was definitely influenced by Flying Lotus and those LA producers in the Brainfeeder crew,” says Jamie. “J Dilla pioneered that style of production.”
Moving on to one of Jamie’s other remix projects, he mentioned recently that when he first presented Adele with his reworking of one of her tracks, the singer wasn’t exactly bowled over.
“She wasn’t that familiar with the musical reference points,” explains Jamie.
“She said she hadn’t really heard anything like that before, and that she was expecting more of a standard house, dancefloor remix. Then I sent her some other tracks that influenced it, and some other tracks that came out before it, which had the same tempo and feel, and she got it. It was fine.”
Of course the phenomenal success of Adele’s latest album – as we spoke, it was on its way to a record-breaking eleven weeks atop the UK chart – has moved the singer ever closer towards the superstar category. Mind you, The xx didn’t do too badly themselves with their self-titled debut. A huge critical hit, the album also scooped the Mercury Music Prize and earned a platinum disc in the UK, as well as hitting the charts in numerous countries around the globe.
The album attracted a diverse range of high-profile fans, with acts as varied as Gorillaz and Shakira covering songs from the album.
“I really liked Gorillaz’ version of ‘Crystallised’, it was amazing,” enthuses Jamie. “It was a very nice surprise to have one of our songs covered by a group like Gorillaz, who we grew up loving. Shakira doing ‘Islands’ was crazy. We were standing by the side of the stage at Glastonbury when she performed it and it was very surreal. She sent us the recorded song a few weeks beforehand and it was amazing. I really liked it actually – I was surprised how much I liked it.”
The London secondary school attended by all of The xx, the Elliot School, has produced a remarkable array of brilliant artists, including Burial, Four Tet and Hot Chip. One wonders if pupils were given intensive tuition in dubstep alongside their geography and maths classes.
“There’s definitely nothing special about it, it’s just a school,” shrugs Jamie. “It’s got a lot of quite bad kids, so the kids who stay in the music rooms don’t tend to get noticed. That’s what we were, so we were just free to make music. We had a certain freedom, but it wasn’t out of it being given to us – they were just too busy with other kids. It’s weird though, I really don’t understand too well why so many people have come out of it. I don’t think anyone else will be coming out of it, because it’s going even further downhill.”
Moving on to happier topics, Jamie says that The xx have been writing new material since just before Christmas.
“We’re currently writing the second album,” he reveals. “It’s going well, we’re actually just writing songs without thinking of it as an album yet. We’re enjoying being home again and we don’t really have a deadline. It’s definitely influenced by everything that we’ve heard over the past three years and everything that we experienced while on tour. And also, the fact that dance music is a big part of our lives now. Maybe there won’t be up-tempo stuff, but stuff that has sounds and influences from dance music.”
Interestingly, The xx played a recent instalment of the All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival at the invitation of Simpsons creator Matt Groening. Did the band arrive armed with a list of Simpsons questions?
“Of course,” nods Jamie. “It was very surprising to be picked by him, and we got to meet him as well; he was a very nice guy. He was busy, but he drew some of our friends as Simpsons characters which was nice.”
Finally, I mention that one of Jamie’s Irish dates is at the Cold Pro surfing festival in Miltown Malbay. Has he ever tried surfing himself?
“I’m a skater, and it’s kind of all linked in,” responds Jamie. “I never really had the chance to surf, but I’d love to learn.”